Dated 5/10/2011
Executive Summary The City of Spokane is facing a crisis regarding citizen and community safety. The budget constraints of recent years have stalled hiring and led to the elimination of over 25 officers since 2009. In July of 2011, this position elimination through attrition will result in the loss of the Property Crimes Investigations Unit as well as several other positions from Traffic and K9. This reorganization must occur to maintain adequate first responder staffing to address citizen and officer safety. As Spokane continues to grow, 911 calls continue to increase. However, our police force is shrinking. We are at a critical juncture; as of 2011, we project crime to continue to increase, while our staffing declines. Even if we are able to immediately address the problem with a lift on the hiring freeze, the 18-24 month lag time in hiring and training a police officer means Spokane citizens will certainly experience increased likelihood of crime victimization over the next two years. And that is only if we can immediately begin hiring. This report contains several sections: The Impacts of Staffing on Crime in the Community, which explains why proper police staffing is crucial for a safe community; Spokane Police Department Bureaus and Services Minimum Recommended Staffing, which describes what the Spokane Police Department should look like; and a Recommended Hiring Timeline, which details what needs to be done immediately to turn the tide in making Spokane a safe city. The Impacts of Staffing on Crime in the Community The loss of police officers creates a significant impact on the level of customer service an officer provides. Police work is largely customer service. The work requires officers and detectives to work with citizens, comforting those who have just lost a loved one to a tragedy, inspecting nooks and crannies after a burglary to provide a sense of peace after such a violation of a citizen s home, to politely educate drivers on the dangers of violating traffic laws, and to treat criminal suspects with as much dignity as possible. While most people who work in customer service deal with similar issues, what sets a police officer apart is that he also places himself in the line of fire every day. While the risk may be small, it is still present. Daily, officers in this country lose their lives while protecting their community. In recent months there have been several incidents of lethal use of force by local law enforcement. As criminologist Larry Siegel 1 states a relationship exists between police violence and the number of police officers on the street. Departments with inadequate staffing risk having their officers handle too many calls for service, make too many arrests, and increase the risk of exposure to stressful situations. A criminal suspect who decides to resist arrest may find himself in a position of sustaining injury as the arresting officer may not have the back-up available to subdue the suspect manually and may have to resort to using a higher level of force. The most powerful predictor of force is the presence and level of suspect resistance presented to 1 Siegel, L.J. (2009), Issues in Policing: Professional, Social, and Legal Essentials of Criminal Justice, p. 217 Pg. 2
officers. In particular, enhanced levels of suspect resistance increased the odds of a forceful response. 2 The reality exists that a reduction in police officers can contribute to an increase in the use of force by officers. Even if that force is not lethal, it is not a situation police officers desire to find themselves in and it can fodder the fires of anti-police sentiment in a community. But beyond customer service and the potential for increased violence by and against police, the impact of staff cuts in the police force translates into more crime in the community. As the level of calls for service for citizens continues to increase, and as we make more and more cuts to personnel, the department has been reorganized to ensure we have primary responders for those citizen calls. The department is moving into a first responder only agency, where officers will respond to an emergency call to ensure citizens immediate safety but will not have the resources to solve a crime through follow-up investigation. The limited investigative staff available will be focused on the most serious crimes, such as assaults, physical child abuse, rape, and homicides. Crimes involving thefts and burglaries will typically not be investigated. The mission of the department will move to responding to citizen calls at the sacrifice of proactive work, such as locating wanted suspects or developing intelligence on drug houses to be shared with the drug investigators. This will be the result of having fewer resources available to respond to calls in order to respond to calls, there will be less time available for proactive work. For a city of Spokane s size, it is recommended that approximately 45% of an officer s shift be uncommitted time. This is the time available after issues such as leave for vacation or training, administrative work 3, and required response to 911 calls have been factored in. This remaining uncommitted time can then be dedicated to proactive work. The League of California Cities determined that in a police organization which delivers a high level of service 45% of a police officer s time is uncommitted; that in a police organization which delivers a medium level of service officers have 30-45% of uncommitted time; and that officers in a lowservice level police organization usually have less than 30% of uncommitted time. 4 As of October 2010, SPD patrol officers only had 33% uncommitted time available for proactive work. With a continual increasing demand from citizen calls, with fewer officers available to respond, officer uncommitted or proactive time will fall below 30%, contributing to the increase in crime. This cycle will continue several years past 2012. The loss of the Property Crimes Unit in Investigations will have an impact on property crime in the community; fewer investigations will result in criminals continuing their crimes with impunity, resulting in more crime. This will cause citizens to call more frequently, creating an even heavier burden on patrol officers responding to calls. Unfortunately, as this continues citizens lose their patience and trust in the ability of the police to protect them from crime. They cease reporting and maintain a level of distrust that will take years to restore. The final complication to this matter is the hiring and training cycle of new police officers. Even with the ability to hire in 2011, we would not be able 2 Terrill, W., Leinfelt, F.H., & Kawk, D. (2008). Examining police use of force: a smaller agency perspective. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 31, pp. 57-76. 3 For Spokane Police Department, our administrative time equates to approximately 90 minutes per shift 4 Coleman, G.T., (2007), A study of strategic management and performance measurement in Canadian police organisations, pp. 53-54. Pg. 3
to restore the Property Crimes Unit until 2013 (at the earliest). By then, the damage may take many additional years to resolve. The charts on the following two pages reflect the City of Spokane s 2009 standings for Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) violent and property crimes compared to other cities in the United States with populations between 175,000 and 225,000. The focus of the Spokane Police Department has been, and will continue to be, on crimes against persons. Property crime is a secondary priority. Our standing for violent crime reflects this commitment; while we are not the best for the rate of violence per citizen in Spokane, we are the middle. We project that we will continue to be in the middle of these comparable cities for violent crimes, even with our staffing deficits. However, for our property crime standings, City of Spokane is near the bottom. This means a citizen in Spokane is far more likely to be the victim of a property crime than other comparable cities. We project that within two years we will be the very worst city among our comparables for property crimes, due to our inability to investigate them as well as inability to proactively prevent them. On the pages following the charts are some other visual demonstrations of the historical staffing levels of the Spokane Police Department from 1999 through our projected level in 2012 (which will actually occur in July of 2011). These staffing levels are compared against population, calls for service, UCR violent crime, UCR property crime, UCR robbery, and UCR vehicle theft rates for the same time frame (with projections for 2011 and 2012 based on current and/or anticipated trends). In conclusion, the Spokane Police Department is already below minimal staffing in order to be proactive in our community and prevent victimization against our citizens. Over the next few years we will be largely reactive; the proverbial Band-Aid over a problem that requires stitches. Pg. 4
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Population Spokane s population has grown nearly 6% from 2000 to 2010. If that trend continues, it will be almost 7% larger by 2012. Meanwhile, the growth in the number of commissioned officers since 1999 is 0%. In 1999 we had 290 officers; in 2011 we have that same amount. By the end of 2011, there will be nearly 7% fewer officers in Spokane than in 1999, at 272 projected. Our growth rate for population is equal to our declination rate of officers. The last time we had fewer than 272 officers was 1994. At the beginning of 1995 there were 256 officers with an additional 20 recruits that year. Staffing of commissioned officers peaked in 2004 at 308 officers. In essence, while Spokane has continued to grow in size (both in population and land area, due to annexations), its police force is shrinking. Calls for Service Since an increase in population does not automatically translate into an increase in demand for service, we also compare calls for service, which are calls from citizens requesting law enforcement assistance. From 1999 to 2010, there was 14% increase in the calls for service from Pg. 7
citizens. Based on a conservative growth rate of 1% a year, we anticipate the calls in 2012 to be almost 21% higher in 2012 than in 1999. Therefore, though calls for service continue to grow, our staffing is decreasing, creating a structural gap. Without additional officers, it is easy to see supply does not meet demand. Furthermore, as our calls for service from citizens have increased coupled with our stagnant staffing, our response time to non-emergency calls has likewise increased. In 2008, our response time (incident entry to arrival on scene) to emergency calls averaged just under 6 minutes; in 2010 that response time was about 30 seconds slower at just over 6 minutes. However, for nonemergency calls, such as a cold burglary or vehicle theft, the 2008 average response time was 24 and ½ minutes. By 2010 the response time increased by over 7 minutes, to just over 31 minutes. This is a 27% increase. Officers will continue to prioritize emergency calls in order to preserve citizen and officer safety; as fewer officers are available to respond to increasing non-emergency calls regarding property crimes, the wait time for citizens will increase. A poignant example of this supply versus demand challenge: in October 2010, response time to non-emergency calls exceeded 41 minutes. This was due to mandatory firearms training; since overtime funds were not available to ensure all officers attended this training, officers were rotated out of their patrol assignments in two hour blocks. This lead to a temporary decrease in the number of officers available to respond to citizen calls, which increased response times. This scenario is likely to become the norm in 2012 and beyond. Pg. 8
UCR: Violent Crime The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Violent Crime index measures the number of Homicides, Forcible Rapes, Robberies, and Aggravated Assault in a community. Below is a representation of the City of Spokane s rate from 1999 to 2012 (2011 and 2012 projected). When compared to Spokane Police Department Staffing trends, one can note that when staffing rates increased, the violent crime rate dropped in the subsequent year. When deep cuts were made in 2005, violent crime steadily increased. With recent cuts, the trend is sloping upward once again. UCR: Violent Crime - Robbery The correlation between the number of officers and the impact on violent crime may be more readily observed in reviewing a subset of this category: robbery. Unlike the other three subsets, robbery is a category police have a more immediate ability to solve and prevent. Through intelligence gathering and the assistance of Crime Analysts and Major Crimes Investigators, if there is a robbery crime series resources such as patrol officers will be assigned to observe specific targets in order to prevent the robbery or catch the suspect in the act. This is dependent, however, on having enough resources to work this type of detail. Surveillance requires man- Pg. 9
hours and if there is not enough to complete this action and respond to citizen calls, this type of proactive work must be sacrificed. Instead, the onus lies with investigators to solve the crime, which can be time-consuming and may result in repeat victimization until enough evidence is amassed to make an arrest. As this chart demonstrates, when staffing increases there is a subsequent drop in reported robberies. There is usually a one year lag (as previously explained, the hiring and training cycle translates into more officers on paper, but a 12-18 month lag time for actual boots on the street that would be available to make an impact), but when staffing began increasing in 2001-2004, the robbery rate dropped significantly. After the 2005 cuts, the robbery rate rebounded to previous highs. With the increase in staffing in 2008-2009, the robbery rate began once again to begin to decline. Unfortunately, with the cuts in 2010 this decrease is likely not sustainable. A moderate increase is predicted for 2011, with a more substantial jump in 2012 with the projected cuts in July 2011. Pg. 10
UCR: Property Crime The UCR Property Crime index measures the number of Burglaries, Larcenies, and Vehicle Thefts in a community. Below is a representation of the City of Spokane s rate from 1999 to 2012 (2011 and 2012 projected). In this case, our staffing rates have matched the property crime pattern, largely due to the 4 year absence of Crime Check, which decreased the reported rate of property crime (please see bottom of page for more information). Since Crime Check returned in 2009, however, crime rates have been steadily increasing while our staffing rates are decreasing. Furthermore, we are projecting a substantial increase in 2012 and beyond with the elimination of our Property Crimes Unit in Investigations. The second chart on the following page is representative of the expected level of property crime reported if Crime Check had not been eliminated. This chart more accurately represents citizen sentiment regarding crime reporting and trust in police. As officers increase, more crime is actually reported, at least initially. Citizens believe that reporting crime will result in crime prevention and their cases being solved. When there are fewer officers and response rates slow down, citizens gradually begin to report less. It is important to note this is reported crime; the actual crime levels vary from reported crimes. Depending on the value of the property Pg. 11
taken/damaged, as well as the level of psychological damage (house broken into causes more psychological distress than a vehicle parked away from home, for example), some citizens do not report crimes. This is compounded during times when it is heavily reported in the media that due to staffing, it might take longer than 30 minutes for officer response; the benefit of reporting the crime may not outweigh the cost of waiting around for an officer. This phenomenon is evident in the chart. With the return of Crime Check and the heavy reporting of Neighborhood Policing in 2009, the Property Crime Rate jumped significantly in 2010. It is expected to continue to grow in 2011 and 2012 until citizen sentiment returns to levels of dissatisfaction and they cease to report at more accurate levels. However, with the elimination of the Property Crimes Unit in investigations, it is predicted our actual property crime rate will continue at an even more significant rate in 2012-2014 as criminals continue to act without fear of repercussions, as they become aware the reward is worth the minimal risk of being caught. Pg. 12
UCR: Property Crime Vehicle Theft State of the Spokane Police Department Discovering the correlation between the number of officers and their impact on actual versus reported property crime may be more readily observed in reviewing a subset of this category: vehicle theft. Unlike other types of property crime where citizens may not report the crime because it is not worth the effort, vehicle theft is almost always reported. There are liability and significant cost issues plus the knowledge there is greater chance of recovery than with other types of property crime. Therefore, this is a useful category to use to determine correlations. As seen with Violent Crime, but perhaps even more significantly, when there is a staffing increase, there is a decrease in vehicle theft (2001-2003). 5 Following the 2005 cuts, vehicle theft jumped in 2006. Once hiring resumed in 2007, vehicle theft dropped in 2008. And now with the recent cuts in 2010, vehicle theft is once again increasing. With the projected cuts in July 2011, to include the property crimes investigators, we project vehicle theft to continue increasing beyond 2012. 5 It is worth noting the meth lab problem peaked around 2002 in Spokane; vehicle theft has been a direct result of the meth problem. The term meth taxi was coined to describe the stealing of a vehicle to drive to a meth source. This is an explanation regarding the low levels of vehicle theft in 1999 and 2000 compared to subsequent years. Pg. 13
Summary In conclusion, the Spokane Police Department is currently not staffed sufficiently to have an impact on crime, much less respond to citizens calls in a timely manner (if at all for certain nonpriority calls). In order to ensure there are patrol officers available on the street to maintain citizen and officer safety while responding to emergency calls, resources have been pulled from other units. This approach can best be illustrated as transferring the balance of one credit card to another though the interest rate might be better on the second card, the current debt is the same if you do not have the funds to pay off the balance. In the case of the Spokane Police Department, transferring positions from units such as K9, Traffic, and Property Crimes Investigations may solve the immediate issue of having resources available to respond to citizen calls. However, this is a poor long-term strategy. In the long run it creates more work for Patrol officers; less specialized help from K9 means more officers searching for suspects longer and no support for Property Crimes investigations means an increase in property crimes calls. However, we are not in a position to not re-assign resources: keeping other units intact would translate into not enough Patrol officers on the street which could put the lives of both citizens and officers in jeopardy, which is not acceptable. The reality is that by reassigning our limited resources to prevent violent crime, Spokane will experience a substantial increase in property crime. With the loss of specialized resources, there will be fewer officers available to respond to less serious property crimes. With the loss of an entire investigative unit, there will be very little property crimes investigations. These two certainties coupled together are the start of a domino effect; criminals will commit more and more property crimes with little fear of reprisal since there will be fewer officers available to respond to the call initially and next to zero detectives available to investigate if a report is submitted. The result is a community where citizens live in fear of being a victim of a crime and do not have faith in their police force to protect them. Pg. 14
Spokane Police Department Bureaus and Services Minimum Recommended Staffing Executive Summary Though concessions by the commissioned officers unions in 2010 allowed 37 positions to be retained for the 2011 budget, 8.5 civilian positions were eliminated. Some of these positions were vacant and the work has been absorbed by other positions. However, position eliminations in the Records unit have created service impacts, such as delays in filling public records requests. Projections for 2011 indicate approximately 18 commissioned vacancies to occur through retirements, transfers, and resignations, with the majority of these occurring in July. Though these positions will not be eliminated from the budget, they will remain vacant, causing service impacts. Almost 50% of these vacancies are occurring in the Investigations Division; in order to maintain department priorities of investigating crimes against people, detectives will be reassigned to these units to backfill the vacancies. As such, the Property Crimes Unit will be eliminated. This will mean starting in July 2011 the vast majority of property crimes in the City of Spokane will not be investigated. In order to maintain staffing levels in Patrol to respond to emergency calls from citizens, K9 and Traffic officers will be reassigned to Patrol, decreasing service from those units (including the elimination of the drug K9 program). In summary, our commissioned 2011 staffing is: Budgeted Filled January 2011 290 289 July 2011 290 272 December 2011 290 272 subject to no other vacancies We are also monitoring our grant funded positions: two grants funding two detectives are set to expire in June 2011. If they are renewed, we will face the same prospect of possible elimination in June 2012. Furthermore, four positions in the department are partially funded by external agencies (STA, Spokane Public Schools, Federal and County governments). Though none of these positions currently face a termination in funding, we must be cognizant of the possibility. Pg. 15
RECOMMENDED MINIMUM STAFFING SUMMARY ADMINISTRATION Administration Chief, Assistant Chief, 2 Majors, Senior Police Officer - PIO 0.5 A/V Tech., Admin Secretary, Clerk IV, Secretary II, Clerk III Below Recommended Staffing: 0.5 A/V Tech The A/V Tech position was cut to a halftime position in 2011 (shared with Channel 5). This cut in staffing has resulted in the elimination of video development of training videos for the training unit as well as other videos for SPD units. Financial Services Grant Accounting Spec, Storekeeper, 2 Accounting Clerks Internal Affairs Unit Lt, Sgt Operations/Analysis Unit Senior Police Planner, 2 Police Planners, Clerk II OPERATIONS SUPPORT BUREAU Administrative Services Division Captain Information Analysis Senior Crime Analyst, 3 Crime Analysts, Clerk II Communications Dispatch Manager, 5 Comm Supervisors, 14 Radio Dispatcher IIIs, 3 Radio Dispatcher IIs, 2 Radio Dispatcher Is Below Recommended Staffing: 3 Radio Dispatcher III (Eliminated 2005 and 2011) Due to the highly skilled and technical requirements of a Dispatcher the unit continues to experience hiring challenges, complicated by both extensive training needed and high turnover. Therefore, they run below budgeted levels with several vacant positions. Since it seemed unlikely that all four vacant positions would be filled in 2011 a Dispatcher III position was eliminated in 2011 in addition to two others previously eliminated. However, long-term it will be necessary to re-instate this position as well as additional positions that have been eliminated budgetarily in past years. To make-up for these vacancies, overtime has and continues to be utilized to maintain critical staffing levels for essential services. However, with overtime restrictions in place, other service not only to the field officer but our community partners assisting in the Law Enforcement mission have been reduced or eliminated. Included is the dramatic reduction to the staffing of the data channel, which serves as a back-up to the two main channels during critical incidents, as well as the regular needs of the field officer. Pg. 16
Records Rcrds Manager, Police Statistician, 3 Rcrds Shift Supervisors, 28 Rcrds Specialists Below Recommended Staffing: 3 Rcrds Specialists (Eliminated 2011) Due to the position eliminations, the public window has been closed on Wednesdays. This has impacted citizens ability to request reports. Furthermore, these eliminations have also impacted the ability to fill public disclosure requests. Any unit runs the risk of absenteeism due to extended illness or injury; an adequately staffed unit is able to cover this individual s workload as s/he recovers. However, this unit is not currently staffed to cover for these absences, so with employees available for duty at bare minimum, essential, officer-safety duties are completed before other tasks. This includes filling public disclosure requests. Training Unit Lt, 2 Sgts, Detective/SWAT Trainer, Cpl/Polygraph/Background Investigator, PFC /Skills Center, Clerk II Below Recommended Staffing: 1 Tactical Police Officer, 1 Police Officer/Background Investigator, and 1 Clerk III (Eliminated 2010) and 1 Assistant Range Master Police Officer (Eliminated 2005) The Spokane Regional Tactical and Firearms Training Center eliminated several positions in 2010 due to budget challenges and the unlikelihood of hosting a Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the Training Unit is also responsible for the hiring process regarding new officers and this was projected to be minimal as well in 2010 and 2011. However, the Training Center does provide essential tactical and firearms training to SPD officers as well as other area law enforcement, creating a more immediate need for at least the Tactical Officer and Assistant Range Master. Currently, two officers are on loan from Patrol to fill these functions; for the second half of 2011 a detective will be loaned to fill one of these roles and return one officer to patrol. This 6 month rotation will continue until a permanent position can be reinstated. Additionally, the SWAT Trainer is temporarily assisting the Tactical Officer as well. The loss of the other two positions creates higher workload for existing staff that is currently being supplemented through light duty assignments and shared clerical support from other units. Once a hiring cycle resumes and SPD hosts a BLEA, this supplementation will be unsustainable. Not solely funded by City of Spokane (20%) The Skills Center position is funded approximately 80% by Spokane Public Schools. Though it is anticipated this position will continue to be funded, it would face elimination if funding ceases. Investigative Services Division Captain Major Crimes Unit Lt, Sgt, 9 Detectives, 2 Cpls (collision investigation), Secretary II, Clerk III Pg. 17
Special Victims Unit Sgt, 10 Detectives, Secretary II, Clerk III State of the Spokane Police Department 1 Detective Grant Funded One position in SVU is funded through a Registered Sex Offender (RSO) grant, which will expire in June 2011. It is unknown at this time if the grant will be renewed another year (through June 2012). If the grant is not renewed, a detective position will be eliminated, severely impacting the ability of this unit to check RSO compliance. General Detectives Lt, Clerk III Property Facility Evidence Supervisor, 6 Evidence Tech IIs Property Crimes Sgt, 8 Detectives Below Recommended Staffing: 8 Detectives *Projected July 2011 With a number of retirements projected for June 2011, the Property Crimes Unit would be eliminated and the sergeant reassigned. This would essentially end the investigation of property crimes. The focus will be on proactive investigations involving targeting repeat offenders. Many felony cases that previously would have been assigned will not under this reduction. Instead, criteria for investigating property crimes will be changed from the sole use of solvability factors to the following criteria: Based on the identification of a pattern, trend, or series of crimes in which there is reason to believe that a Repeat Offender (ROP) is responsible, OR Based on the identification of a pattern, trend, or series of felony property crimes involving potential risk of escalation to injury against citizens (crimes against persons) These cases would be investigated by the Targeted Crimes Unit. Domestic Violence 2 Detectives Targeted Crimes Sgt, 6 Detectives 1 Detective Grant Funded One position in TCU is funded through a Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority (WATPA) grant, which will expire in June 2011. It is unknown at this time if the grant will be renewed another year (through June 2012). If the grant is not renewed, it will mean one less detective in this unit to investigate prolific offenders responsible for auto theft and related fraud. Fraud 4 Detectives, Secretary II Pg. 18
Special Investigative Unit Lt, 2 Sgts, 9 Detectives, PFC-Technical Support, Police Steno Below Recommended Staffing: 1 Technical Support Officer (Eliminated 2010) The two technical support positions are responsible for assisting with surveillance support including covert listening devices, GPS trackers, and IP surveillance cameras for observation of criminal locations for SIU. The officers also support the video/audio analysis of surveillance equipment for suspect identification for investigations and court use. The loss of one position has decreased surveillance support, including the near elimination of supporting external agencies such as the Sheriff s Office. Regional Drug Task Force 2 Senior Police Officers Not solely funded by City of Spokane (less than 40%) The Regional Drug Task Force is funded through federal, county, and city funds. In 2011, a little less than 38% of these two positions were funded by City of Spokane. If the outside partners cease funding, SPD would not be able to contribute personnel support to the Regional Drug Task Force (not projected at this time). Gang Task Force Sgt, 3 Detectives, 2 Senior Police Officers, Clerk II Below Recommended Staffing: 2 Police Officers (Eliminated 2010 due to loss of grant) These two positions were funded by a grant that ended in June 2010 forcing the elimination of these two positions. This has caused an inability to engage in some proactive operations and has diminished the unit s effectiveness. Criminal Intelligence Sgt, 2 Detectives, Secretary II Patrol Captain, 4 Lts OPERATIONS BUREAU 16 Patrol Teams (includes 2 PACT teams) 16 Sgts, 16 Cpls, 19 PFCs (1 Vacant July 2011), 70 Senior Police Officers, 39 Police Officers (1 Vacant) Below Recommended Staffing: 12 Officers (Eliminated 2010) In order to address officer safety and maintain appropriate response to citizen calls for service, 128 patrol officers need to be available for duty which requires 140 budgeted positions. Due to the hiring and training cycles and extended leave issues (FMLA), it is difficult to achieve this minimum of 128 if we cannot hire above this level. Currently, Pg. 19
there is one vacancy in patrol, leaving 127 officers available for duty (not including several on FMLA leave). Since we cannot currently hire, we are already below recommended minimum staffing which will continue to diminish through attrition. Not having 140 positions budgeted means that we cannot hire and train so we can maintain 128 officers available for duty. Continued reduction in Patrol staffing has increased response time to non-emergency calls while calls for service from citizens continue to increase, necessitating a restriction on the type of non-emergency calls receiving response so officers will be available to respond to emergency calls. This has also created a reduction in self-initiated activity, such as traffic stops and investigating suspicious activity, since officers are responding to citizen calls as a priority. Additionally, there are officer safety concerns with some selfinitiated activity; for example, if there is not another officer available to provide back-up, it is potentially unsafe to stop a vehicle of a known gangster. Two Patrol Anti-Crime Teams (PACT) were introduced in 2011 to absorb the majority of proactive time from the remaining patrol teams; their focus is on self-initiated activity regarding crime trends and known criminal offenders. While this has been an efficient reallocation of resources, it will not be sustainable long-term if there are not enough officers available to handle citizen calls. Budgeting Patrol with a minimum of 140 officers would allow for enough officers to respond for duty to not only provide timely response, but to respond to the majority of citizen calls as well as conduct necessary self-initiated activity with adequate back-up. With projected retirements in July 2011, there will be several vacancies in Patrol. The majority of these have been addressed by vacating positions in other units (Traffic, K9, Detectives). However, some positions would still remain vacant in Patrol. K-9 Team Sgt, PFC, 6 Senior Police Officers (2 Vacant May 2011) Below Recommended Staffing: 2 Officers *Projected May 2011 The K9 Drug program was eliminated in May 2011; these officers were reassigned to Patrol. Due to recent law changes, the ability to use the drug K9s has been reduced. Though they are still valuable and are a great asset to drug investigations, at this time a greater need exists in Patrol in order to respond to citizen calls. This leaves only the five patrol K9s in the unit. Traffic 2 Sgts (1 Vacant June 2011), 2 PFCs, 9 Senior Police Officers (2 Vacant June 2011), 2 Police Officers (2 Vacant June 2011), Clerk II Below Recommended Staffing: 6 Officers; *Projected June 2011 will be 9 Officers and 1 Sergeant The optimal staffing for Traffic would be 19 officers: 16 Traffic Officers over two shifts, 2 Commercial Vehicle Inspectors, and 1 Photo Red Officer. Currently, we only have nine Traffic Officers. An additional ten Traffic Officers would create greater coverage Pg. 20
throughout the city and increase availability to work specials, including school zone enforcement throughout the year. It would also create more opportunities for education in conjunction with enforcement. A lesson learned in 2005 when there were 26 Traffic Officers was the over-saturation of citations issued, causing an increase in production, but a subsequent increase in citations going to collections for non-payment. As the emphasis was on production and revenue, there was no true change in driver behavior. Emphasizing education with enforcement can be achieved with 16 instead of 26 officers, and will still increase revenue. An additional advantage to an adequately staffed Traffic Unit is collision response and traffic enforcement can be addressed without placing this burden on Patrol Officers, who can instead focus on responding to citizen emergency calls and engaging in neighborhood problem-solving. *June 2011: The Traffic Unit vacated one position in January 2011 and assigned that person to Patrol where the greater need existed in order to respond to emergency calls from citizens. One more position was vacated in May 2011 for the same purpose. With projected retirements, another 2 positions will be vacated in this unit and reassigned to Patrol in June 2011. This will force the elimination of one shift; as such, one sergeant position will also be eliminated. To mitigate service impacts, the remaining traffic officers will increase enforcement levels from 12 to 15 infractions a day. However, there will still be a reduction in traffic enforcement by 25%. Traffic enforcement is linked to reducing the number of collisions in a community, so this reduction may lead to an increase in collisions and possibly injury to citizens. Furthermore, this reduction will decrease revenue to the General Fund by approximately $125,000. SROs Below Recommended Staffing: 1 Sgt, 6 Police Officers (Eliminated 2005) The School Resource Officer Program was launched in 2000 and was eliminated in 2005. This program developed out of the need to more strongly address juvenile crime and safety concerns in area schools. The SRO program was often described as having an NRO based in the middle schools. The program provided direct contact between officers and juveniles, primarily at the junior high level, but was designed to have that contact throughout the grade levels. The duties of the SRO were proactive police work; the presence and visibility of uniformed officers had a direct effect on crimes committed in school areas. The officers were aware of juvenile crimes in and around their assigned middle schools and took appropriate police action regarding these crimes when necessary and needed. An example of this action was gang interdiction as well as gang prevention. They were the police problem solvers of the schools, the law-enforcement educators, and a resource for teachers and students. They were also the department spokesman for juvenile problems in their assigned areas as well as role models for the kids they had contact with. Neighborhood Resource Unit Lt Below Recommended Staffing: 2 Crime Prevention Specialists (Eliminated 2005) The Crime Prevention program was eliminated in the 2005 budget. These two specialists worked with NROs, Volunteers, and the COPS Program to educate citizens on best Pg. 21
practices regarding crime victimization and crime prevention. They also worked with internal members of the department, including officers and Crime Analysis, to educate these personnel on crime prevention techniques. NROs Sgt, 2 PFCs, 6 Senior Police Officers Not solely funded by City of Spokane (50%): Downtown Resource Officers Currently, one of the Downtown Resource Officers is funded 100% by STA. City of Spokane matches this by funding another officer so the pair can work in tandem to address issues at the STA Plaza as well as the rest of downtown. Though funding is expected to continue, should STA end this partnership, we would stop funding the other position, eliminating the Downtown Resource Officer program. Special Events Sgt, Senior Police Officer/Special Problems Volunteer Services Sgt, Clerk III Below Recommended Staffing: 1 Officer (Eliminated 2005) There are over 100 volunteers working for SPD through one of four programs: Reserve Officers, Senior Volunteers, Co-Ops, and Explorers. An officer was assigned to this unit to assist the sergeant in coordinating volunteers until the position was eliminated in 2005. This has left just the sergeant to recruit, supervise, and plan training and work assignments for the four separate and distinct groups in addition to providing supervision and face time for the volunteers. People volunteer altruistically; however, it is important to recognize that gift by acknowledging the volunteer s contribution with individual faceto-face time. With over 100 volunteers, this is difficult for one position to manage. Patrol Administration Sgt, PFC/Front Desk, 2 Comm Svcs Ofc-Aband.Vehicles, Auto Servicer-Fleet, Laborer I-Fleet Spokane Regional Emergency Communications Systems Senior Police Officer Pg. 22
Recommended Hiring Timeline Though the previous section details the ideal minimum staffed Spokane Police Department, we realize the need to balance fiscal responsibility in conjunction with public safety. As such, below is our plan for hiring in order to address immediate citizen and officer safety concerns. Immediately initiate selection and hiring process for 22 officers. 6 o 18 Projected vacant officer positions as of July 1, 2011 o 4 Additional officer positions needed January 1, 2012 for West Plains Annexation Thereafter, ongoing hiring of additional officers as vacancies occur This timeline will allow for the restoration of the service level provided in 2010 by January 2013; any officers hired in July 2011 would not be able to act as patrol officer until that point at the earliest. Therefore, service reductions will still have to occur until that time. There will be an inevitable and unpreventable increase in property crime during this time frame. It is the sacrifice we must make to maintain violent crime enforcement levels in the community. Expand hiring for an additional 24 officers and 9.5 civilians as funding allows for the expansion of services to recommended minimum levels. This minimum is exemplar of what a law enforcement agency at its most basic level should be providing to a city of Spokane s size. Positions To Restore For Minimum Needed Staffing Commissioned Civilan 1 Tactical Officer Academy 3 Records Specialists 1 Background Inv Officer Academy 3 Dispatcher III 1 Asst Firearms Officer Academy 1 Clerk III Academy 1 Technical Support Officer SIU 2 Crime Prevention Specialists 2 Gang Officers GET 0.5 A/V Tech 8 Detectives Property Crimes 9.5 Total 12 Patrol Officers 1 Traffic Sergeant 9 Traffic Officers 2 K9 Officers 1 Volunteer Services Officer 1 SRO Sergeant 6 SRO Officers 46 Total 6 Hiring Process for Commissioned Officers The hiring and training process for a commissioned officer is 18-24 months. After the job opportunity is posted and applications are processed, extensive screening is completed. Potential candidates must under-go interviews, background investigations, physical ability and psychological testing, drug testing, and a polygraph before an offer can even be extended. New hires must then be sent to a Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) unless they are an approved lateral hire from another agency. With only two BLEAs per year, this influences the swing between 18 and 24 months. This initial hiring process is therefore 6-12 months alone. The BLEA training is approximately 4 months with a post-academy in Spokane so new hires are familiar with Spokane Police Department policy and procedures. These probationary officers then begin on the job training with their Field Training Officer (FTO) for the next 4-5 months. Some officers do not pass this probationary period. After this 9 month training officially ends, probationary officers move into their final phase of probation where they may ride alone, but are still in the process of familiarizing themselves with the job duties and responsibilities and are closely monitored by the patrol sergeant. At bare minimum, an officer hired and sent to BLEA at the beginning of 2012 would not be able to respond to a citizen call alone until 2013. If the hiring and screening process is postponed until 2012, it will be late 2013 to early 2014 before these officers would be available for duty. Pg. 23
Conclusion The purpose of this report was to illustrate the Spokane Police Department and the City of Spokane are at a critical juncture regarding public safety. The position cuts of the last two years and the inability to hire ahead have all but guaranteed Spokane will see an increase in crime over the next 2 years, at a minimum. We have the potential to turn the tide in 2013, but only if we can begin staffing immediately. The recovery time for public safety is compounding. The longer we wait to address the issue, the larger the problem becomes. And the larger the problem, the longer it takes to undo. The Spokane Police Department has developed a strategy to mitigate substantial increases in violent crime as citizen safety is top priority. However, we still believe we will see nominal increases, most notably in robberies if history is an indicator. In order to keep citizens as safe as possible from bodily harm, however, means we will be forced to move resources away from property crime enforcement. And this is what causes the snowballing effect that will take years to fix. With less property crimes enforcement comes more property crime. And property crime, left unchecked, begets more property crime. This Broken Windows theory is a fundamental criminology principle. Property values will decrease, businesses will close, visitors will see urban decay, citizens will become apathetic. New businesses will look elsewhere to locate, citizens who can afford to will move away. Essentially, the Spokane Police Department is just as responsible for the economic development of this city as other departments. We are asking for 46 officers, 22 of those positions immediately, in order to prevent Spokane from retreating from what it has accomplished over the last decade. This equates to approximately $2.2 million in the short term to assist in Spokane s recovery. Combined with the remaining 24 positions and 9.5 civilian positions to restore the Spokane Police Department to a basic agency is an approximate $5 million annual outlay. However, this is not solely a law enforcement expenditure. It is an investment in Spokane s long-term future. The time to act is now. Pg. 24